Algol and the British Royal Family
by Alex Trenoweth
Dreaded fixed star Algol plays a major role in the nativities of the Windsors – including the late Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III – and in major turning points of royal history.
Please note: Many more articles on the British Royal Family can be found in the "Royal Issue". See the table of contents here: AJ6406 - The Astrological Association.
Medusa by Caravaggio
Source: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The fixed star Algol, currently located at 26° Taurus 25′, is associated with the Gorgon Medusa. In the myth, Medusa is cursed with snakes for locks of hair, and she turns all who look at her into stone. She is eventually beheaded, so the story goes, by the hero Perseus who uses a mirror to reflect her image back at her, so he didn’t suffer being petrified like his friends.
Astronomically, Algol is a binary star system that gives a sense of twinkling between the eyes of the constellation (Perseus) of the severed head of Medusa – which Perseus holds aloft in the heavens. Once a year, in mid-August, the Perseid meteor shower sparkles from the sword of the heavenly hero.
Although technically labelled a ‘fixed’ star, Algol moves about one degree every 72 years against the backdrop of stars, thanks to precession. Usually, only a two-degree orb is used for planetary connections. Algol is said to be one of the most feared of stars, but modern astrologers tend to move away from the associations with ‘headlessness’ and interpret connections with intensity, jealousy and passion.
Algol also features prominently in the charts of the key members of the British Royal Family and in the events that mark turning points in their reigns.
Constellation Perseus with Algol
Source: AU and Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg), CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Charles I
Before examining current members of the Royal Family, let’s look back to Charles I. A Stuart king, he was executed for high treason on 30 January 1649. He was born with Mercury at 22° Scorpio and Sun at 27° Scorpio (more or less opposite Algol) in the Gregorian calendar system. NB: I am using this New Style [NS] calendar system for accuracy and consistency with the charts of the current Royal Family. If the Old Style [OS] Julian calendar is used, then Charles I is a Sun/Mercury Sagittarius.
Algol was conjunct his Mercury at the time of his execution 373 years ago. Very interestingly indeed, King Charles III has his Sun at 22° Scorpio.
Triwheel of Charles I, II and III
Data source: all Astrodatabank - Charles I, Charles II, Charles III
Cromwell's head on a spike, drawing, late 18th ct, Sidney College, Cambridge
Source: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons
History remembers Charles I for his abuse of power and his belief in the divine right of kings to do as they pleased. He tried to force high Anglican practices on a largely Puritan population, one of the reasons for the triggering of the English Civil War led by Oliver Cromwell. Given this unfortunate association, the name ‘Charles’ is an odd choice for future kings.
After the beheading of King Charles I, his son Charles II fled to France during the Interregnum led by Cromwell. Cromwell died of natural causes on 3 September 1658, but his body was exhumed on the twelfth anniversary of Charles I's execution on the orders of Charles II: Saturn was at 22° Scorpio, opposite Algol, when Cromwell was ‘posthumously executed’. His skull was severed from his body and displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall. During a storm, the story goes, Cromwell’s head blew off the pole and was lost. It kept popping up in various places as it was passed in the hands of private collectors before reaching its final resting place in 1960 at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, Cromwell’s alma mater.
This ghoulishness can perhaps be attributed to Charles II having Pluto at 21 Taurus which was on Algol at that time.
The abdication crisis
King George V died on 20 January 1936, his death hastened by a lethal injection, presumably to avoid pain and suffering (though it is also rumoured that the king’s death might have been expedited for an announcement in time for the morning rather than the evening papers).
Edward VIII, who succeeded his father, caused a constitutional crisis when he decided to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée. He abdicated without coronation in late 1936, leaving his younger brother George VI (the father of Elizabeth II) the throne. Edward VIII had Venus at 23° Taurus conjunct Algol. And his brother George VI had Uranus and the Moon at 22° and 24° Scorpio respectively opposite Algol. George VI acceded to the throne nearly a year after the death of his father (George V) on 11 December 1936 when Uranus was at 6° Taurus, just over a full Uranus cycle ago. These degrees are conjunct King Charles III’s planets in Scorpio. It is also interesting to note that the Sun was at 8° Taurus when Catherine and William were married.
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana had her Venus on Algol as does William, Prince of Wales. Prince Harry's Moon is at 21° Taurus, a few degrees out of orb to make a solid connection to Algol.
The marriage of Charles and Diana took place with Uranus at 26° Scorpio, directly opposite Algol. During Diana's interview with Martin Bashir for the BBC show Panorama on 20 November 1995, both the Sun and Mercury were within one degree of the Uranus in the wedding chart. In this interview she admitted to infidelity and explained that her marriage to Charles was ‘a bit crowded’, in an implied reference to the now Queen Camilla.
Prince Harry
Prince Harry exchanged vows with Mehgan Markle with the Sun at 28° Taurus. Like his older brother William, Harry gave his bride a ring that had been owned by his late mother. Uranus had ingressed Taurus on 15 May 2018 at 16:16 in London just a few days before the wedding with the Moon of that chart on Algol.
As might be expected with Algol, there is a grisly connection with a past member of the Royal Family: the marriage took place on the 482nd anniversary of the beheading of Anne Boleyn (Henry VIII’s second wife). Meghan was born just weeks after the wedding of Charles and Diana and has Uranus at 26° Scorpio. Her choice of American Bishop Michael Curry to give the wedding address proved memorable as he spoke passionately of the ‘power of love’ – not the usual topic at royal ceremonies. But harbinger of a new style.
Meghan and Wallis
Sources: Meghan: Northern Ireland Office, CC BY 2.0; Wallis: The Sketch 1936, Public Domain, both via Wikimedia Commons
Meghan's first pregnancy was announced to the public on 15 October 2018 with transiting Jupiter at 27° Scorpio.
As an aside, it has been suggested by certain observers that Meghan and Wallis Simpson bear an uncanny resemblance. They have a Moon-Pluto conjunction which may go some way to explain why they have caused difficulties for the Royal Family.
Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew was born with his Moon opposite Algol. The BBC reported in March 2011 that his friendship with predatory sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein was a matter of concern. A few years later in December 2014, allegations were made – and denied – that Andrew participated in sexual activity with a minor, linked to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell (now in a US jail). On 16 November 2019, Prince Andrew gave a ‘car crash’ interview to Emily Maitlis on the BBC’s Newsnight show to discuss his relationship with Epstein and whether he had had sex with accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre when she was 17 – as the prince answered these questions transiting Sun in Scorpio was approaching opposition to Algol. In the interview, Andrew denied he could have been with his victim as he was with his daughters at a Pizza Express in Woking. The date given for the alleged sexual crime was 10 March 2001, when Saturn was on Algol.
Koo Stark, one of Andrew’s former girlfriends, was just about the only person who tried to defend him. Her Mercury is right on Algol.
The next generation
Harry, William, Catherine, George, Charlotte and Louis
Sources: Harry: DFID - UK, derivative work: Minerva97, CC BY 2.0; Cambridge family: Londisland, CC BY-SA 3.0 , both via Wikimedia Commons
Prince George (born 22 July 2013 at 16:24 pm) has his Ascendant/Descendant axis on 27° Scorpio-Taurus. Princess Charlotte (born 2 May 2015 at 8:34 am) has Mars at 23° Taurus, just a little short of a conjunction with Algol. Prince Louis (born on 23 April 2018 at 11:01 am) has Venus just a few minutes away from being in orb of Algol.
Another abdication?
In mourning for Elizabeth II, the British public have shown support to the grieving Windsors and they appear to be accepting of King Charles III and Camilla, the new Queen Consort. However, Charles’ loss of composure over a dysfunctional ‘stinking’ pen revealed the tension he may be under and questions remain about his suitability as king. Speculation around whether or not he will make it through his first year as monarch has been brought up and so it may be worthwhile reviewing other times in history when monarchs have been succeeded quickly.
One of the biggest battles for the crown took place on what is now the town of Battle, East Sussex, eight miles northwest of Hastings, on 14 October 1066. Central to this fight was the death of Edward the Confessor who left no known living heirs. On the king's death, Harold Godwinson seized the crown. However, with jealous eyes upon him, it was only a matter of time before Harold and his supporters were at war with other contenders, Harald Hardrada and the man who would be the new king, William the Conqueror.
Godwinson died and William won the crown with Neptune at 24° Taurus. This particular degree (or thereabouts) of Taurus has importance in the charts of key players and future events regarding the Royal Family (such as Charles III’s Sun in the 23rd degree of Taurus). William the Conqueror would go on to change the entire landscape and political climate in England for the next several centuries and many of his structures are still standing to this day.
In April 1483, Edward IV died, leaving his young son Edward V to be the king. In June of that same year, the young king’s uncle Richard III (according to Shakespeare) had the lad and his younger brother imprisoned in the Tower of London so he could be king. The boy princes disappeared, presumed murdered. Richard III’s reign would be short, and he died on the fields of Bosworth a couple of years later with Uranus at 24° Scorpio, opposite the Neptune of the Battle of Hastings chart.
Thus, it does seem that the current Royal Family is tied into the tumultuous events of past short reigns.
Queen Elizabeth II and her death
The Queen Elizabeth II chart has MC/IC axis at 25° Taurus/Scorpio, placing Algol right on her IC – and her natal Saturn opposite to the star. As the matriarch of a royal family, it makes perfect sense that she carried the historical contacts of Algol in her. During the then US President Donald Trump’s visit to London in 2018, there was a solar eclipse on 13 July, with transiting Pluto on her South Node/Ascendant opposite Sun/Moon in Cancer on the Queen’s North Node/Descendant. The Trump visit was controversial for his seeming refusal to follow royal protocol, quite literally eclipsing the Queen on a few occasions. The year would be difficult with the Harry and Andrew problems which also ‘eclipsed’ the Queen.
I have watched Algol and the Royal Family since the death of Diana when I first noticed her Venus-Algol connection. I would often make comments about lunations on Algol on social media and how they relate to the Royal Family. However, an accidental discovery earlier this year made my blood run cold: I was looking at the Queen’s solar return for 2022 when I noticed her North Node was conjunct the Venus of Edward VIII. My immediate thought was that she would step down as Queen. And then I realised something even more sobering. The lunar eclipse in Scorpio on 16 May 2022 had the Sun at 25° Taurus conjunct Algol/her IC opposite transiting Moon in Scorpio conjunct her MC/Saturn. The newspaper headlines about the Queen were cheerful enough but there were also rehashed media stories about the circumstances of Diana’s death as well as rumours about the Queen’s health.
The South Node was conjunct Prince Charles’ Sun as well as the natal Mercury of Charles I, the only beheaded king in British history, signifying perhaps that sinister information was about to surface. Newspaper headlines in late August usually make some sort of reference to the anniversary of Diana’s death. This year, the 25th anniversary of that event, the newspapers were eerily silent.
At the time of the Queen’s death on 8 September 2022, Algol opposed her Saturn within a two-degree orb.
It is sincerely hoped that King Charles III does his late mother proud by being a good, dutiful king, and that the difficulties of the past can be resolved and put to bed.
But the problem with Algol is that it never makes for a good bedtime story.
Published by: The Astrological Journal, Nov/Dec 2022
Many more articles on the British Royal Family can be found in the "Royal Issue". See the table of contents here: AJ6406 - The Astrological Association.
Author:
Alex Trenoweth, MA (CAA), DFAstrolS, C*I*A (Cosmic Intelligence Agency) Agent 144, is an astrological researcher, author and professional schoolteacher – and the Director of Education for Kepler College. Recipient of several major astrology awards, most recently ‘C*I*A Agent of the Year, 2022’, Alex has spoken at astrology conferences around the world, has contributed to major astrology magazines and is author of Mirror Mirror: The Astrology of Famous People and the Actors and Growing Pains. Alex edits TimeLords magazine for the C*I*A and manages the Rohini Academy of Astrology. Her website: alextrenoweth.co.uk.
© Alex Trenoweth, 2022
